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Phone Number: (201) 790-6035
Office Location: 65 Bergen Street, Suite 720A, Newark, NJ
Amiya Waldman-Levi, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Professor and Program Director of the Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program at Rutgers University School of Health Professions. With more than 20 years of experience in occupational therapy, research, and higher education, she provides leadership for academic programs, curriculum development, faculty mentorship, and student success initiatives.
Her scholarship focuses on resilience among individuals, caregivers, and families facing adversity, with particular interests in play and playfulness, caregiver-child relationships, and community-engaged interventions. She has co-developed strength-based programs, assessment tools, and questionnaires, and secured multiple grants and copyrights.
Dr. Waldman-Levi is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association (FAOTA) and serves as a grant and manuscript reviewer for more than 20 national and international journals. She is committed to advancing excellence in health professions education through leadership, mentorship, scholarship, and advocacy, with a particular focus on promoting equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging in academic and professional communities.
BOT, School of Occupational Therapy, The Hebrew University, Israel
Msc, OT , School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University, Israel
Ph.D. , School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University, Israel
Postdoctoral Training, The New School of Social Research, Clinical Psychology, Department, the Center for Attachment Research
Postdoctoral Training, The School of Health and Natural Studies, Mercy College
| Award | Year |
| Academic Leadership Program at Rutgers Health (ALP-RH) | 2026-2027 |
| AOTA Roster of Fellows for “Extraordinary occupational therapy practitioner, scholar, and educator” | 2024 |
| Cordelia Myers American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Best Article Award | 2022 |
| Top Downloaded Paper, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, Wiley | 2018-19 |
Dr. Amiya Waldman-Levi’s research agenda focuses on individuals, caregivers, and families’ resiliency in the face of adversity and trauma. Her research on resiliency includes the study of social-emotional detriments, play and playfulness, and parent/caregiver-child relations. Dr. Waldman-Levi co-developed strength-based programs, the Family Interaction for Improving Occupational Performance Intervention model (FI-OP©) and the Playing Playfully to Overcome Adversity telehealth, group-based program. She also co-developed questionnaires and an observation-based assessment, the “Parent/Caregiver Support of Children Playfulness” (PC-SCP, 2023).
Her scholarship output surpasses 100 publications as well as copyrights and grants. Over 20 years in academia, she assumed various leadership roles and mentored numerous students in their capstone projects, theses, and dissertation research. At the professional and inter-professional levels, she served as a grant reviewer and a journal reviewer for over twenty national and international scientific journals. Dr. Waldman-Levi strives to translate research on children’s play and playfulness over the lifespan through community-based research as well as professional platforms. Additionally, Dr. Waldman-Levi is engaged in scholarship and advocacy supporting equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging of all students in academic spaces.
| Title | Sponsor | Effective Dates | Role |
| HEALS Grant, cultivating a Diverse Community Advisory Board, Dedicated to Bridging the Gap between Academia and clinical practice. | Rutgers | June 2026 | PI |
| Technology-Powered Play Assessment, $2,920 | Katz School Faculty Initiatives | 2024 | Waldman-Levi PI and Wang, Co-PI |
| Student Resilience, $1,640 | Katz School Faculty Initiatives | 2023 | Waldman-Levi, PI and Bundy, Co-PI |
| Supporting Families and Children’s Growth and Wellbeing, $2,050 | Katz School Faculty Initiatives | 2023 | Waldman-Levi ,PI, Halperin, Co-PI, and Brown, Co-PI |
| Health Aging,?A Wellness Intervention Program, $3,746 | Katz School Faculty Initiatives | 2022 | Waldman-Levi, PI, Stancanelli, Co-PI, and Laghezza, Co-PI |
| The Feasibility of the Promoting Health Through Play Opportunities Program in Improving Parent and Child Outcomes for Underserved Families, $7,500 | YU Provost Faculty Research Grant | 2022 | Waldman-Levi PI, Halperin, Co-PI, Garfinkel, Co-PI, and Brown, Co-PI |
| Promoting Play Opportunities in the Classroom, $12,500 | Naclerio Faculty Scholars Program | 2021-2022 | Halperin, PI and Waldman-Levi, MENTOR |
| A Well Intervention Program, $3,000 | Faculty Development Grant, Mercy College | 2021 | Stancanelli, PI and Waldman-Levi, PI |
| The Impact of Income Inequality on Family Functioning: A Focus on Income Disparate Neighborhoods, $5,000 | LIU Seed Grant: “Peek 3” Application | 2020 | Haden, PI, Joseph, CO-PI, Levine, Co-PI, Saunders, Co-PI, Meehan, Co-PI, Morel, Co-PI, and Waldman-Levi, Co-PI |
| Developing a Comprehensive Assessment of Parent Support of Their Young Children’s Playfulness Picture, $3,000 | Faculty Development Grant, Mercy College | 2016 | Waldman-Levi, PI and Olson, PI |
| Playfulness, Hope, Well-Being, $3,000. Participation among Elderly | Faculty Development Grant, Mercy College | 2015 | Waldman-Levi,PI and Stancanelli, PI |
| The Influence of an Intervention for Mothers and Children Residing in Shelters for Abused Women, on Mother-Child Interaction and the Play Functions of the Child, 10,000 NIS | The Martin Levin Institute for Child Development | 2007 | Waldman- Levi, PI |
| The Influence of an Intervention for Mothers and Children Residing in Shelters for Abused Women, on Mother-Child Interaction and the Play Functions of the Child, 2,000 NIS | The Fund in Memory of Ramah Shuval Itiel, The Israeli Association of Occupational Therapy | 2007 | Waldman-Levi, PI |
| The Influence of an Intervention for Mothers and Children Residing in Shelters for Abused Women, on Mother-Child Interaction and the Play Functions of the Child, 2,000 NIS | The Fund in Memory of Arie Juros, The Israeli Association of Occupational Therapy | 2007 | Waldman-Levi, PI |
| Title | Authors | Where and When |
| Promoting Family Resilience: Tier-1 Strength-based Program to Promote Parental Competency and Support of Child Play | Chilczuk, A. B., Waldman-Levi, A., Hill, Z., Tavory, G., & Fabrizi, S. | The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (in-press). |
| Hear Their Voices: The lived experience and occupational engagement of on-campus Jewish students. | Molinsky Rivka, Friedman Zahava, Akselrud Robin, Gordon-Handler Lisa, Halperin Lola, Isenberg Avital, & Waldman-Levi Amiya | World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress 2026 Abstracts, 2026 |
| AI-powered Play Assessment Approach Using Video Language Models: A Feasibility Study | Waldman-Levi, A., Liu, D., Cunin, C., Murad, V., & Wang, H. | Smart Health. 100632. 10.1016/j.smhl.2025.100632., 2026 |
| Applying Principles of Trauma Informed Care and Occupational Justice for Jewish Students within College Contexts. | Gordon-Handler, L., Waldman-Levi, A., Molinsky, R., Halperin, L., Falk-Kessler, J., Friedman, Z.L., Akselrud, R. | OT Practice, 2026 |
| Addressing the Needs of Jewish clients and students through a trauma-informed-approach | Waldman-Levi, A., Akselrud R., Friedman, Z., Halperin, L., Leiser, S., Molinsky, R. | The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2025 |
| Establishing psychometric properties to the Inventory of Professional and Academic Reasoning (IPAR®) | Gordon-Handler, L. & Waldman-Levi, A. | The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2025 |
| Hear their voices: The lived experience and occupational engagement of on-campus Jewish students | Waldman-Levi, A., Friedman, Z., Halperin, L., Gordon-Handler, L., Falk-Kessler, J., Akselrud R., & Molinsky, R. | Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 2025 |
| Exploring the Association between Cognition and Manual Dexterity among People with Multiple Sclerosis | Abraham, R., Waldman-Levi, A., Barrera, M., Bogatt, H., et al. | Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, 2024 |
| State of the Science: Editorial | Kuhaneck, H., Bundy, A., Fabrizi, S., Lynch, H., Moore, A. H., Parham, D., Roman-Oyola, & Waldman-Levi, A. | The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Special Issue: Play, 2024 |
| Children’s Play and Leisure Engagements: The Effect of Maternal Traumatic Events | Waldman-Levi, A., Haden, S.C. & Finzi-Dottan, R. | Journal of Child and Family Studies, 33, 1493–1503, 2024; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02692-z. |
| Father-child playfulness: A secondary analysis of a multiple baseline single-subject study of three children with autism spectrum disorder | Waldman-Levi, A. & Kuhaneck, H. | The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77(2), 2023 |
| Development of a Telehealth-Based Group Teacher Training Program: Fidelity and Delivery | Halperin, L. & Waldman-Levi, A. | Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 2023; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15394492231151882 |
| Assessment Manual: Parent/Caregiver Support of Children Playfulness (PC-SCP) | Waldman-Levi, A., & Bundy, A. | AOTA Press (2023) |
| A New AI-Powered Play Assessment Approach Using Video Language Models | 2. Waldman-Levi, A., Liu, L., Cunin, C., Murad, V., & Wang, H. (under review) | Smart Health Journal |
| The power of play: How pediatric occupational therapists can promote children’s development in the classroom | Waldman-Levi, A., Halperin, L., Calabro, M., Ettinger, C., Murad, V. (under review) | |
| Playfulness development and cognitive capacity among typically developing children: A longitudinal study | Waldman-Levi, A., Bundy, A., & Shai, D. | The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76(5), 2022 |
| Understanding father-child joint play experience using a convergent mixed-methods design | Waldman-Levi, A., Cope, A., & Olson, L. | The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76(5), 2022 |
| Differences in how mothers and fathers support children’s playfulness | Waldman-Levi, A. | Journal of Infant and Child Development. DOI: 10.1002/icd.2257, 2021 |
| Promoting Family Resilience: Tier-1 strength-based program to promote parental competency and support of child play | Chilczuk, A. B., Waldman-Levi, A., Hill, Z., Tavory, G., & Fabrizi, S. (in preparation) | |
| The connection between student resilience factors, anxiety and academic performance | Waldman-Levi, A., Peer, R., & Bundy, A. (in preparation) | |
| Boy Time: A Study of Father-Son Play Interaction | Cope, A.N., Haden, S.C., & Waldman-Levi, A. (in preparation) | |
| Broadening the DEIJAB Lens in Occupational Therapy?as Illustrated by the Inclusion of the Jewish Perspective | Molinsky, R., Waldman-Levi, A., Falk-Kessler, J., Akselrud, R., Friedman, Z., Halperin, L., Isenberg, A., & Gordon-Handler, L. (in preparation) | |
| Parental embodied mentalizing, parental support of child’s creativity in play, and child’s secure attachment: A longitudinal study | Shai, D. & Waldman-Levi, A. (in preparation) | |
| Promoting Playfulness in the Classroom: A Group-Based Intervention Study | Halperin, L. & Waldman-Levi, A. (in-press) | The Israeli Journal of Occupational Therapy |
| Promoting Aging in Place through A Wellness Program: Comparing In-person and Online Delivery | Waldman-Levi, A., Stancanelli, J., Laghazza, A., Hirsch, R, Kwok, J., Rubin, B, Lambert, T., et al. (accepted) | Physical & Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics |
| Differences in how mothers and fathers support children’s playfulness | Waldman-Levi, A. | Journal of Infant and Child Development. DOI: 10.1002/icd.2257 (2022) |
| Fostering inter-professional education through service learning: The Belize experience | Coffin, D., Collins, M., & Waldman-Levi, A. | Occupational Therapy in Health Care, https://doi.org/10.1080/07380577.2021.1877862 (2021) |
| Emotional functioning and sense of hope as contributors to health aging | Waldman-Levi, A., & Bar Haim-Erez, A., Katz, N., & Stancanelli, J. | Occupational Therapy Journal of Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1539449220920728 (2020) |
| The Multicontext Approach: Measuring and Establishing Treatment Fidelity in a Complex Intervention | 24. Toglia, J., Lee, A., Steinberg, C., & Waldman-Levi , A. | The British Journal of Occupational Therapy. doi.10.1177/030802261989809 (2020) |
Assessment Manual
| Title | Authors | Where and When |
| Parent/Caregiver Support of Children Playfulness (PC-SCP) | Waldman-Levi, A., & Bundy, A. | AOTA Press, 2025 |